MONROE — Home, by Madison artist Chuck Bauer, is the title of the new gallery exhibit to be on display at Monroe Arts Center’s Wellington and Muranyi Galleries from Jan. 31 through March 13. Bauer is a prolific painter and is drawn to subjects with a domestic or a natural theme, and uses conventional approaches that convey nostalgia and tranquility. Monroe Arts Center is located at 1315 11th St., Monroe.

Not afraid of color or experimentation, his early training as an abstract painter still fuels a current approach to realistic topics. He seeks solid composition, but also playful and perhaps sometimes unexpected results. 

His works are usually executed on site, en plein air (“in the open air”), during one or two painting sessions. His paintings are of modest size, as he paints wherever he goes, and is rarely without painting supplies. Painting en plein air allows him to respond directly to the natural world because photographs are weak, and memory is weaker.

His subjects are often mere excuses to use color expressively, or to work out compositional themes that engage his interest. 

In 1969, Bauer earned a B.F.A. in Fine Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University, and in 1970 he received a M.A. in Painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of Driftless Area Artists, Wisconsin Visual Artists, and Wisconsin Regional Artists Association. From 1972 to 2016 (retired), he was the president and co-founder of the well-known business The Soap Opera, located on State Street in Madison.

An opening reception for this exhibit, as well as for the MAC Frehner Gallery exhibit Quiet Control by Hanna Bruer, will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31. A gallery talk by Bruer begins at 5:30 p.m. Quiet Control will be on exhibit through March 20.